"Loyalty has its limits": When Lewis Hamilton's patience with McLaren was starting to wear thin

The years after Lewis Hamilton's maiden F1 title in 2008 were underwhelming. The Briton, a dominant driver that year, fell under the shadows of Brawn GP, Red Bull, and Ferrari in the following years. Ultimately, in 2011, Hamilton thought it was enough, and his patience with McLaren started to fall.

Hamilton entered F1 with McLaren in 2007 and became a championship contender in his first year. However, he failed to make it a reality as he lost to Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari by just one point. Capitulating on that, Hamilton sealed the title the very next year and was regarded as a future multiple world champion in the coming years.

However, things began to go downhill for him from 2009 as his McLaren was barely a match for Brawn GP cars in 2009, and Red Bulls and Ferraris in 2010 and 2011. Finally, in 2011, he lost his cool, and his patience with the Papayas began to thin out.

However, it was not quite easy for him to move out of the British team as Hamilton was emotionally invested in them. McLaren was the team that paved the way for Hamilton since his young days, and therefore he was quite "loyal" to them.

"I have got only a short period in Formula One and I want to be competitive," Hamilton said. "I want to win championships. If you're in a good enough place and you're happy then there's no need to go anywhere. But loyalty has its limits." (Via Guardian)

In 2009, Lewis Hamilton finished the season in P5 with 49 points, 46 points behind the champion Jenson Button. The following year, Hamilton was one of the contenders, but still finished the season in P4, 16 points behind title winner Sebastian Vettel.

In 2011, Hamilton ended his season in P5 and was 165 points behind. 2012 was no better as the British driver wrapped up his season in P4, and was 91 points behind Vettel.

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Lewis Hamilton on his decision to leave McLaren: "The most difficult call"

Lewis Hamilton decided to leave McLaren at the end of 2012 and make the switch to Mercedes. The decision came after McLaren failed to provide him with a car worthy of a Championship. While the move seemed routine, it wasn't the same for Hamilton, who was emotionally invested in the team.

Lewis Hamilton at the 2012 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil, his last race for McLaren - Source: Getty

"It was the most difficult call I've ever had to make because we'd grown so close and he had been so supportive and I didn't want to let people down. But at the end of the day you have to let people down sometimes to make decisions," Hamilton said. (Via BBC)

Lewis Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 to race alongside Nico Rosberg. He replaced retirement-bound Michael Schumacher and stayed with the team till the end of 2024.

At Mercedes, the British driver won six of his seven titles, claiming 84 wins, and multiple poles and podiums. In 2025, the driver from Stevenage switched to Ferrari and joined Charles Leclerc to race in red.